State law gives town boards of health broad powers to regulate noise nuisances under the general category of air pollution, but so far the Falmouth Board of Health has declined to use that authority on the wind turbines, which are located at the town's wastewater facility on Blacksmith Shop Road.
The Fairhaven Board of Health has had no qualms, however, about it. Earlier this year it ordered its turbines, which are owned by a private company, Fairhaven Wind LLC, to shut down the turbines from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. in response to noise complaints. Subsequent elections for the Board of Health seats turned unusually heated as pro- and anti-turbine groups lined up their support — and their wallets — behind their respective candidates.

FALMOUTH – Opponents of two town-owned wind turbines are taking the next phase of their battle to the Falmouth Board of Health, where they hope increased operating hours and the potential for sleep disruption will give the board cause to curtail the turbines’ operations.

Last month, selectmen voted to increase the turbines’ operation from 12 hours per day to 16 in an effort to eliminate financial losses caused by their reduced operation. Although the plan was a stab at a compromise – some selectmen advocated running the turbines all day – the increase nonetheless angered neighbors who have been complaining of negative health effects since the turbines were installed.

The five Board of Health members last tackled the turbine issue in 2012, but ultimately decided that, absent new peer-reviewed scientific studies or an increase in operating hours, they didn’t have enough evidence to affect their operation. Those meetings, which included testimony from dozens of neighbors, often turned heated when the Board of Health ultimately declined to order an immediate shutdown of the turbines.

But board members did say that sleep disruption would be a complaint that would put the turbines back on their radar. Now that the turbines are off only from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. instead of 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., it’s back in their court and will be on the board’s agenda tonight, said chairman Jared Goldstone.

“We determined that we did need to reopen a hearing and make a decision … if these are acceptable hours of operation or if we feel there should be some modification,” he said.

Malcolm Donald, a neighbor of the turbines, said he and other abutters would be at tonight’s meeting to offer their feedback on the new hours, which went into effect Tuesday. He’s also been emailing the board with studies about sleep deprivation in children, and has tried to enlist Falmouth Superintendent Bonny Gifford to offer her opinion to the board.

“I think they have been pretty open to hearing our opinions and open to the literature we’ve been sending them,” Donald said of the Board of Health. “I would question their resolve to take a stand and make a decision.”

State law gives town boards of health broad powers to regulate noise nuisances under the general category of air pollution, but so far the Falmouth Board of Health has declined to use that authority on the wind turbines, which are located at the town’s wastewater facility on Blacksmith Shop Road.

The Fairhaven Board of Health has had no qualms, however, about it. Earlier this year it ordered its turbines, which are owned by a private company, Fairhaven Wind LLC, to shut down the turbines from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. in response to noise complaints. Subsequent elections for the Board of Health seats turned unusually heated as pro- and anti-turbine groups lined up their support – and their wallets – behind their respective candidates.

Falmouth’s Board of Health seats are all appointed by the selectmen, but that doesn’t necessarily remove politics from the decisions, Goldstone said.

“Any time there’s a conflict between a board within a town and the selectmen, it gets very complicated and almost paradoxical,” he said. “Were we to be sued by the town or the Board of Selectmen, we’d have to go to the board to get permission to spend money on our defense.”

Because of a reporting error, a story about the Falmouth wind turbines on Page A1 of Monday’s Times misstated the hours of operation of turbines in Fairhaven. They currently have no restrictions on their operation.

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article is owned by the author or publisher indicated. Its availability here constitutes a "fair use" as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law as well as in similar "fair dealing" exceptions of the copyright laws of other nations, as part of National Wind Watch's noncommercial effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information. For more information, click here. Send takedown inquiry or request to excerpt to query/wind-watch.org. Send general inquiries and comments to query/wind-watch.org.